Head Tilt

[JenniferWilcher20]

Hi group. These are my two babies Dash(NZW) and Nala(lion head). I adopted Dash to bond with my Nala about a year ago. They have been inseparable ever since. But yesterday I rushed Dash to the emergency vet due to what I believed to be a seizure. Around 3:30 pm yesterday he was laying with his sister and I noticed him starting to get a bit wobbly as he tried to stand up and seemed unsteady on his feet. A few moments later his eyes started going from side to side and then he flipped over on his side and began to seize as I thought. That episode lasted for maybe 1-2 minutes and he came out of it but his head had a slight tilt and he began to lean into the right side of his body. My husband and I immediately phoned our exotic vet and brought Dash in ASAP. They took him in as soon as we arrived and about 6 hours later we spoke with the vet regarding his exam. The vet said she didn’t believe he had a seizure but what he experienced was probably caused by vertigo (vestibular disease) which could of resulted from an inner ear infection. She also said it could possibly be e. Cuniculi but she doubted it but we could also test for that as well. I told her Dash had been fine the entire day up until that episode and had never had any health problems or scares up until that day. She told me sometimes that happens out of no where and she ruled out any dental problems because his teeth looked fine and we would begin treatment for the possible inner ear infection first before testing for e. Cuniculi. Dash was prescribed an ear flush to clean his ear because one ear did have some debris but not much in it. He was also given Enrofloxacin, meloxidyl, and meclizine. She said to just limit his roaming area since he and his sister are free roam and to make the litter box, hay and water accessible to him where he lays so he isn’t far from it when he wants it. She also told me I could for give him critical care if he’s not eating like he normally is because of the dizziness he’s experiencing and to call her if I had any questions and that he is a young bun, (3 years old) and it’s possible after treatment he could recover from the head tilt. I’m just shocked by it all because it came out of nowhere. He was perfectly fine up until that one episode and I’m so worried now. He’s not his normal spunky self and I know he’s not feeling the best. Any advice, tips or anything you guys can offer is welcomed or any of you all’s experience with something similar would be a great help. Thanks

 

[JBun]

They definitely can recover, though it does depend on what the cause is and how severely it's progressed. Though sometimes even with recovery, there can still be some head tilt left. This link has some good care tips for rabbits with head tilt.

http://www.disabledrabbits.com/head-tilt.html
Did the vet also give you panacur in case of e. cuniculi being the cause? Usually that's what experienced rabbit vets will do until the testing results come back.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Head_tilt
http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/E._cuniculi_Series
Medirabbit: ear infection clinical signs and treatment

Though it does sound like it could have been head tilt, I wouldn't rule out a seizure either based on your description of what you saw occur. Though if it was a seizure, e. cuniculi as a cause would be more likely than an ear infection. There are other possibilities as well for a seizure, including if your rabbit is a blue eyed white rabbit. If you can handle looking at these videos of seizures, it might give you a better idea if it was in fact a seizure or your rabbit rolling from head tilt. Some seizures will present with the rabbit mostly holding still and twitching, others with the rabbit paddling and muscles twisting and contracting. If it was a seizure, treatment may not change, unless the seizures reoccur, then different meds may need to be tried.

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Seizures
Medirabbit: seizures

 

[JenniferWilcher20]

Thank you for all the information and links. I will be reading them all.